CALEDONIA - Budget woes continue to plague the parks of Caledonia.

The village's Parks and Recreation Commission had its budget slashed earlier this summer. They may get nothing for next year, said commission President Marla Wishau, referring to a budget.

That would mean the grass growing long, locked bathrooms and garbage piling up.

"People may still use (the facilities), but it won't be open," she said.

Wishau said she has not yet heard from the Village Board on a decision to close down parks completely, but she doesn't know what they expect her to do without any funding.

As of Friday, Wishau said the commission has about $1,900 left of its $20,000 reserve fund accumulated over the years. After paying utility bills, she expects nothing will be left by the end of the year.

This is just the latest blow for Caledonia parks.

The commission cut back its parks operations and maintenance this summer after the board cut its budget from $68,000 to $3,000, due to a village budget deficit. Since then, the commission has had to cut all of its four paid parks positions.

Wishau, who became president after Brian Dey resigned from the position in July, argued it would be more cost-efficient to budget for the basic upkeep now, rather than spending more later to clean up after the mess when there is no regular mowing or garbage pickup.

The commission is asking the village for $23,000 for minimal upkeep of parks, Wishau said. Or $8,000, with the Highway

Department doing basic maintenance like mowing grass, picking up garbage and maintaining the bathrooms.

Then, at least, Wishau said, parks could get by with the $3,500 additional revenue expected from shelter rentals and help from

volunteers.

"The Village is going to have to find a way to pay, one way or another," said Trustee Wendy McCalvy, who is on the commission.

Village Administrator Tom Lebak said the board and staff had to prioritize when working to balance the budget.

Essential services like police and fire, snow plowing and road maintenance, he said, took priority over parks.

"By the time we accounted for all that, there was nothing left," Lebak said.

He said the village has tried to keep some semblance of parks programs going, for example taking shelter reservations at the Village Hall since this summer.

Village President Ron Coutts said the board has been working the past few weeks to cut the projected village budget deficit for 2010 from about $700,000 to $430,000 and will continue to try to balance the Budget budget.

"I don't want to shut parks down, like anybody else," he said. "But where do I find the money? Everybody I talk to tells me, 'Don't raise my taxes.' "

Other municipalities around the county are maintaining their parks budgets for the most part. The Village of Mount Pleasant, City of Burlington and Racine County parks officials said they expected funding to remain about the same in 2010 for parks and to maintain similar operations as in 2009.

The city's Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department may see a $70,000 decrease from its $7 million budget in 2009, but department Director Donnie Snow says routine operations should not be affected. He added the budget remains to be finalized.